The Washington Capitals lost a winnable game to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Tuesday night. Special teams seems to be the culprit in this one. And a new goalie wouldn’t hurt.
The fourth line (or at least they’d be the fourth line in a normal season) had a big game, notching goals by Hathaway and Dowd in the first and second periods. Columbus responded with three goals in the second period — Laine, Boqvist, and Laine again — all on the power play or immediately after a power play expired.
Playing in his first NHL game, Trey Fix-Wolansky beat Pheonix Copley with a dribbler, which brought Ilya Samsonov into the game. With two and a half minutes left, all-star Tom Wilson tied the game with a quick wrist shot from the slot, only to see the Caps lose it in the final minute off Boone Jenner’s shot.
Caps lose.
- Great effort from Washington’s most reliable line: Garnet Hathaway, Nic Dowd, and Carl Hagelin. Two goals on the rush. The second one really looked like it was going to go to Hagelin for a bit, but it turned out Oliver Bjorkstrand’s skate deflected the goal, not Hags’. Classic.
- Nic Dowd was also elite on the faceoff dot. He won 17 of 18 at last check.
- Lars Eller started the game on the first power-play unit, replacing Evgeny Kuznetsov. After two bad opportunities, Kuznetsov reclaimed his spot and scored a goal. Kuznetsov seems key to successful zone entries for Washington, and him getting a goal from the other side of the ice from Ovi is exactly what the unit needs.
- Kuznetsov later absorbed a bad hit from Columbus D Andrew Peeke. A ruckus ensued, with Ovechkin scaring lots of people. For some reason, Trevor van Riemsdyk was the only one to serve a penalty for those antics, and Columbus scored on the ensuing power play.
https://twitter.com/tylerduchaine/status/1491234887369920518
- Ovechkin slump continues. Nothing since January 22.
- I don’t know if he was buzzing or if he was just on a good line, but I liked Joe Snively‘s work. If only Connor McMichael (under eight minutes of ice time) could get opportunities like that.
- The Schultz-TVR pairing had a real rough night playing opposite, mostly, to Max Domi and Sean Kuraly.
here’s @JoeBpXp back in action with some pink paisley, or possibly salmon boteh #joebsuitofthenight pic.twitter.com/fdYjZgopH8
— Good Tweet Pete 🌮 (@peterhassett) February 9, 2022
In his first start in years, goalie Pheonix Copley had a relatively easy night, but he allowed four goals on 19 shots. My position since summer is that I want off this goalie carousel. The Caps should pick up a goalie before the trade deadline. I still think it should be Braden Holtby.
Anyway, no time for kvetching. The Caps head up to Canada for a date on Thursday with the Canadiens, who are even worse than the Blue Jackets. They better win that one.
Headline photo: NBC Sports Washington
